1. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates to folding chairs, and more particularly to that class having an elongated pin engaging slot therein.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art abounds with folding chairs. United States Patent, bearing Ser. No. 2,555,113 issued May 29, 1951 and United States Patent bearing Ser. No. 2,568,269 issued Sept. 18, 1951, to H. C. Burnham, in part, both teach folding chairs having toggle like elements engaging the uppermost region of the rear leg rails to the rear inclined surfaces of the front leg rails. The Burnham devices maybe easily collapsed accidently upon applying an upward force to the uppermost regions of the front legs so as to cause the toggles to reverse position, permitting the folding chair to have the lowermost regions of the rearmost legs move towards the lowermost regions of the front legs, thereby spilling an occupant thereof onto the ground. U.S. Pat. Nos. 947,090 issued Jan. 18, 1910 to J. J. Wolfe and 1,493,060 issued May 6, 1924 to M. F. Bayer and 2,649,141 issued Aug. 18, 1953 to G. B. Marshall et al all teach folding or collapsable furniture employing the metallic plates or other elongated elements in which pin like members are installed in elongated slots therein having a generally straight nature. The pins are free to move along the length of the slot thereby permitting various folding elements comprising the folding chair to pivot relative to one another from an erected opened condition into a folded flat condition. Small forces applied generally to the rearmost lowermost regions of the legs, generally cause such pins to move along the length of the slot, at which time an erected chair will accidently fold up into a collapsed state such that the four point contact locations defined by the lowermost regions of the legs approximate one another so as to reside substantially along the straight line thereby minimizing the stable characteristics of an otherwise erected and untouched chair. Such chairs are totally unsatisfactory when being utilized by children or those uneducated in their safe use. Previous attempts to utilize such chairs resulted in designs which necessitated difficult to move pivotlly related components so as to minimize the possibility of accidental dislodgement of the leg elements from a preferred angular relationship to substantially parallel relationship, thereby limiting the use of such folding furniture by the elderly or the infirm.